Wellington, September 2, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
New Zealand’s Immigration and Protection Tribunal has rejected all 40 published asylum cases linked to support for Khalistan that it considered in 2025 and 2026, according to a report.
A review of published tribunal rulings found that 15 such claims were decided in 2025 and another 25 in 2026. None of the applicants was granted refugee status, marking a shift from 2024, when two applicants were granted refugee protection on similar grounds, the report in Khalsa Vox stated.
The rulings indicate that merely identifying with or expressing support for the Khalistan cause does not, by itself, meet New Zealand’s legal threshold for refugee protection.
In the two cases accepted in 2024, the tribunal had concluded that the nature and visibility of the applicants’ political activities could expose them to persecution if they returned to India.
More recent decisions have distinguished between publicly supporting Khalistan and establishing that such activities create a genuine, individualised risk of persecution, according to the report.
A recurring factor in the rejected claims was the limited nature of applicants’ political involvement and insufficient evidence that Indian authorities were aware of, or had taken an interest in, their activities overseas.
In one case cited by Khalsa Vox, an applicant had participated in a non-binding Khalistan referendum in Auckland and attended a demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in Wellington. The tribunal reportedly characterised these activities as “low level” and found no evidence that they had attracted the attention of Indian authorities.
The report said asylum seekers need to establish circumstances specific to their individual cases and provide evidence of a credible risk of persecution upon return to India. Factors considered by the tribunal can include the nature and visibility of political activities, organisational affiliations, public exposure and documented interest from authorities.
The report also cautioned that there is no comprehensive official data showing the total number of asylum applications in New Zealand linked to Khalistan-related claims. Published tribunal decisions represent only cases that reached the tribunal and were made publicly available, rather than the overall number of such applications lodged in the country.
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